Finally, after subjecting all of you to "soon" for the past few years, it is here... in an unexpected form.

"Big Stone Head: Easter Island and Pop Culture" by James Teitelbaum

Book design by Gary Blaney.
Cover image by Heather Watts.
Web site assistance by Gina Haase
Mug designed by Doug Horne for Tiki Farm.
http://www.bigstonehead.com/

Synopsis:

On a sunny April morning in 1722, the western world had its first contact with Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), and the nearly one thousand big stone heads (or moai) erected there. Two centuries later, people in America were drinking cocktails out of ceramic mugs shaped like the moai, people in Japan were erecting fake moai in their cemeteries, and people in Europe were tattooing moai images on their biceps. Comic books in the 1960s imagined the moai coming to life, just as hippies of the era ate LSD tablets with tiny moai printed on them, while listening to rock albums with Moai on the cover.

How did this happen?
Why did this happen?
How did this effect the Rapa Nui people?

Illustrated with over 350 images of Rapa Nui, of pop culture artifacts inspired by the island´┐Żs mysterious moai figures, and an art gallery of contemporary interpretations of the moai, Big Stone Head: Easter Island and Pop Culture is a lively, fun, and educational peek at how millennia-old rock art on the world's most remote inhabited island inspired cartoons, action figures, and bar decor.

Format:

Big Stone Head: Easter Island and Pop Culture deals in part with the environmental disaster that befell the Rapa Nui people centuries ago. The complete deforestation of an entire island, which once contained an estimated 16,000,000 palm trees, was part of a century of disaster that reduced a healthy population of as many as 20,000 people to a starving remnant of 110 survivors.

Given the lessons learned by the collapse of Easter Island, it seemed hypocritical to print this book on trees. Therefore, a decision was made to release it as a downloadable PDF file, or for collectors, as a bamboo USB drive within a gift card. The card is printed on 100% recycled paper. Bamboo, of course, is one of the fastest growing and most readily renewable materials on the planet.

The author is aware that many people like to have a hard copy of a book in their hands, and is also aware that a book as lushly filled with spectacular color images as Big Stone Head is, begs to exist as a "real" book. The possibility of Big Stone Head coming out as a printed book does exist in the future (pending an appropriate printing and distribution scenario), but for now we are interested in exploring the possibilities of the experimental, futuristic, and environmentally-friendly eBook format.

We think of it as "a coffee table book for your computer screen", but if you must print the book out at home, we urge you to at least set up your print queue to use both sides of each sheet of paper!

The eBook made its debut at Tiki Oasis in San Diego, CA, on August 15, 2009, on a limited edition custom-designed bamboo USB thumb drive, packaged in an attractive gift card!

The eBook is in a high-resolution print-ready PDF format, compatible will all modern computers and many palm devices.

We have also produced a Tiki mug limited to 150 copies (by Tiki Farm, designed by Doug Horne) and a cover art print (by Heather Watts).

Tikibars, I understand the reluctance to print up a bunch of books - a friend of mine just spent $7,000 of his own cash to self publish a book and now has a garage full of books. That said, even in our electronic age I think people still want a book they can hold in their hands. You are to be commended on all your hard work, I wish you only the best. I love it when people make money, even if it's not me

The mug looks cool. Is it a 2 piece mug that separates from the base?
_________________ATTENTION MEMBERS! After your Friday Night Debauchery, please be sure to skim the hot tub in the Grand Ceremonial Forum of Mystery. Thank you - The Management

I can't wait to read this (not to mention see all the art!)
And while I may be a little biased, as someone who moved last year (to a smaller place!) and had a fairly hefty stack of books, I can now say I will trully appreciate one that lacks significant weight and volume. Looking forward to seeing the mug too!
I just got the prints hot off the press today!
Heather
_________________

Congrats to James for this to come out finally...
I mentioned to James way back in 2005 at Hukilau, we all love Tiki, but as someone originally not from the USA, I got to tell you guys:
I think it's safe to assume that 98% of the people in Western culture know nothing about Tiki. But show them a Moai, and they will instantly recognize it as an Easter Island head. So, this subject pertains to a lot more poeple around the globe then Tiki. I am not starting a Tiki vs. Rapa Nui flame war...just want to remind people on how much more of an icon this is as compared to the other aspect of our interests here on TC.
(kinda like in the US and Japan people know the Ventures, and to the rest of the world it's the Shadows that made much more impact in the mainstream).

The e-book is the perfect Rapa Nui solution! Islanders wiped out all the trees obsessed with carving and moving the Moai's and then it was a desolate place to live. This is awesome that its an e-book, no trees from Rapa Nui (Earth) have been sacrificed! The green book! There's a great article by Jared Diamond how Rapa Nui is a microcosm of our society: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/origins/eastersend.html Save the planet go e-book... okay I know its not a solid argument, but its a solution! Nice work James!